RCMP Press Release

The Mike and Vicki Project: “A safe place to make bad choices”

Penticton

File # 2013-09-24
2013-09-24 09:20 PDT

A collaborative drug awareness effort between the Penticton South Okanagan Similkameen Regional RCMP Detachment, Interior Health Mental Health and Substance Use and Mind Festival Learning, is set for its official launch.

The Mike and Vicki Project is an innovative and interactive resource designed to stimulate conversation about the choices that youth have when facing drug and alcohol use.

The Mike and Vicki Project includes a web-based choose-your-own-adventure story that follows two high school youths, Mike and Vicki, as they plan their weekend and attend a local bush party. The viewers decide which choices Mike will make and discover what the consequences may be, for Mike and those around him. Should Mike take Ecstasy? Should he have a drink? Or should he just go home? You choose and then discover how your choice impacts Mike’s life, his relationship with Vicki, his friends and family.

The goal for the project is to provide an easy to use tool that can be a catalyst for educators, police, alcohol and drug workers, counsellors and parents to engage youth in conversation about drugs and alcohol. The scenarios that Mike and Vicki experience are drawn directly from real life situations.

Using Mike and Vicki as characters, allows youth to talk about the possible choices without making it personal. This resource is not about judging people’s choices, but about helping the participants gain insight into how decisions are made and what can influence those choices.states Terri Kalaski, project manager and Penticton RCMP Community Policing Coordinator.

Through conversation there is the opportunity for increased understanding and education. Each story-line in the resource ends with the question What Just Happened followed by Fast Factsrelated to the specific story-line. Including these conversation starters is a deliberate attempt to encourage dialogue that may help the viewer process what they have just experienced. added Ginger Challenger, Interior Health Youth Outreach A&D Counsellor.

The Mike and Vicki interactive story is a major component of the mikeandvicki.ca webpage (English only).